Table of Contents
Alexander Hall
newsbusters.org
Free market website Issues & Insights reported that Google censored one of their articles, claiming the publication undermined the U.S. electoral process.
Is merely observing reality an offense under the Biden presidency?
Free market commentary website Issues & Insights reported in a blog they had received a notice from Google’s AdSense ad network that one their articles violated the platform’s policies. The article claimed further that Google “wouldn’t allow any of their network’s ads to appear on that article until we ‘fixed’ the violation.” I&I said Google reportedly flagged its content for “unreliable and harmful information.”
I&I went on to condemn Google and mock it for its former slogan of “Don’t be evil” with some of the most severe terms possible: “You’ve just taken another step towards acting like a totalitarian dictator. Remind us again of what that motto was you used to parade around. Be evil? Be like Stalin? Help us out here,” I&I wrote.
The I&I article in question covered an election poll, not a particularly charged issue.
”This new article wasn’t about climate change. It wasn’t about COVID. It also wasn’t about election fraud. It wasn’t about the Jan. 6 riots. It wasn’t about anything controversial,” I&I reported. “It was an article about the results of our own monthly I&I/TIPP poll, which asked registered voters ‘who do you want to see run for president in 2024.’”
I&I reviewed Google’s terms of service explaining three major violations the search engine restricts:
“We do not allow content that:
- makes claims that are demonstrably false and could significantly undermine participation or trust in an electoral or democratic process.
- promotes harmful health claims or relates to a current, major health crisis and contradicts authoritative scientific consensus.
- contradicts authoritative scientific consensus on climate change.”
After ruling out other reasons, I&I came to a grim conclusion about why their poll article had been demonetized.
“Since nothing in the article was ‘demonstrably false,’ that leaves the accusation that the article ‘could significantly undermine participation or trust in an electoral or democratic process,’” I&I reported. It further warned that such a standard is “so vague that it could justify demonetizing literally anything.” To add to the disturbing revelations, I&I said Google confirmed the censorship was not in error.
“When we asked Google to review its ruling, they rejected our appeal,” I&I wrote. “Which means the ‘violation’ wasn’t just the result of an algorithm gone haywire.”
I&I theorized that “[t]he only conclusion we can draw is that Google is now attacking content for no other reason than that it doesn’t like the facts being reported.” The article then mocked Google for its past motto, “Don’t be evil.”
